12/19/2011

Where does the time go? This ultimate in cliches is also one of the most true and here we are in December....again! It's not like we don't know where the time went, it's shown on our slightly worn faces, slightly tighter jeans, and slightly taller kids. Time passes us by and it leaves its mark. An example of this is the ugly fact that the gray in my hair is doing nothing but mutliplying. I realize that if I continue to pluck these nasty white strands out of my head I will not have a gray problem but rather a bald one. I choose gray over bald so after the holidays I am going to walk the walk of shame and get my hair dyed. This is a big deal to me, the only false color that has ever been in my hair was that smelly Sun In stuff from the '90's. I would spray it on the hair around my face until it was dripping wet with liquid chemicals, and then point a hot blow dryer on it until it turned a nice, nasty, singed, orange/blond color. I associate burning hair with dying hair so I have shy-ed away rather than dyed away, but I can no longer. Aside from our graying hair and dark circles under our eyes time is also quite generous with what it leaves behind and for those little things I am grateful. Of course family, friends, faith in what we believe in and the freedom to believe in what we choose are all the biggies. I am not forgetting them, I have just had them long before this year (thank goodness). Here is a simple list of 11 little things I am thankful for from 2011....

1. A kid that can walk. This is a positive that, along with every single other element of children, comes with it's own draw backs.... The obvious is that you don't have to carry this child around, with remnants of melted popsicle transferred from their hands to your hair. It's the start of their independence and I really do enjoy watching my son grow up. But with that independence also comes mad dashes through parking lots while your hands are full and your "angel" sprinting over to another little kid only to throw a block at them. Since Charlie has started walking I have learned the difference between running and chasing. Running is voluntary, chasing is not. Never the less, with Charlie a bit of a late walker, a walker is much better than a crawler! Even clean floors are gross!

2. The gym. I do not go to the gym with the pathetic hope that I will ever be skinny. There is far too little O'shea in my genes and far too much heavy whipping cream and real butter in my fridge for that to ever happen. I do have to admit though that when I first committed to working out it was with the belief that if I went often enough I would eventually be a size 2 and maybe grow 3 inches taller. Then reality set in and I realized that what the gym really is is an escape from that adorable, parking lot dashing, child of mine. It's funny because when you first become a regular at the gym the only people that will talk to you are guys and they don't really talk to you like they want a conversation with you, if ya know what I mean. Then after a few months they realize they have as much hope as I have at growing to 5'9" so they start talking to you for just a conversation and maybe actually remember your name. It's kind of nice talking to someone other than a 2 year old (though not far from that...). Then, after about a year women start to talk to you and it's simply wonderful. That it actually takes a year before women will open up to each other is a bit sad but we are all going through the same things and are all there for the same reasons, to get away for an hour or two and then go home feeling just a bit better about ourselves and able to put on our pretty smile for our families. I have met some wonderful women at the gym and everyday from 11-1 they make my life just a bit better and make the gym worth it. I will never be a size 2 and I will never remember the guys names that try to have conversations with me. Life is good.

3. Reward points. To those of you who think this is a trivial thing to include on my list, do yourself a favor. Go and get a good credit card, use it for everything and then pay it off every month (no exceptions!). You will pay zero interest (maybe a small annual fee for a really good card) but the reward points you earn can be traded in for cash, Blue Ray players, baseballs signed by Tony Larussa, tickets back and forth to Bozeman, Pluto movies and all the christmas presents I have bought this year.....FOR FREE! If that doesn't deserve #3 on my list I am not sure what does!

4. Pandora Radio. For $36 a year I get to listen to a mix of Nine Inch Nails, Elliot Smith, The Pixies, Drake, George Winston and the Main Title in To Kill A Mockingbird (minute 2:14 in that song is the best musical moment ever!). If Pandora ever goes public I may just transfer my awesome AIG 401k to their stock.

5. Loopholes. Not getting political. I have read articles that say that the health-care law has helped a lot of people and I hope this is true! Isn't it funny that really the best thing to be wrong at are your political worries? But the truth for our house is that because of the new requirements we no longer get prescription drug coverage since we are individual subscribers. Not a big deal to most people, but just one drug was going to cost us $7200/month ($86k/year!). Houston, we have a major problem! Then a magical loophole was found and now it's only $10/month. Thank you Houston!

6. Peyton Manning..............

7. Facci. This time last year he would've probably made #1, but with him being around for a while now he gets #7! We all missed Keith, many still do, and we are lucky enough to not have to miss him anymore. Last year I would hold my breath for days after sending him a text in Africa telling him what was going on in our world, now I smile when he calls because I know he just needs something from me! ;) To note: after writing that last line I remembered that he called me this morning for an address so I had to stop and call him back....aaah, good to have him back! And a HUGE bonus is Margret!! The beautiful beakon of hope for all the world is also charitable enough to hang around with him so we can hang around with her. Love them both!

8. The words, "please", "thank you" and "sorry". All used it very inaccurate but super cute ways by a toddler. The sorry in particular is the best, almost makes getting hit upside your head with a wooden bat worth it. On the same subject though I have to add that, "now!", "no!", and "waaaaaahhhhh!" are all words I hate from 2011.

9. Tofu. This is all that my child will eat. I say this and people everywhere think or say, "It's just a phase. Don't worry." "Have you tried hot dogs?" "My kid loves macaroni so your's will too, if you just do it right." These people mean no harm and though I could hate them, I don't. They simply don't realize that when I say that my son doesn't eat, I am not exaggerating. He's stubborn, and though many kids are stubborn, when it comes to eating Charlie takes the cake (which if you WANT him to eat cake, he won't.....). The kid has never (ever!) eaten a noodle. All those cute spaghetti pics you see on Facebook, I will never have them with my kid that was born with the Adkins diet. All those moms that complain that their kid will only eat the white macaroni and cheese leave me only to envy them. But with all the hot dogs, chicken strips, green beans, mangos, cheese cubes, grapes and (yes, even....) Cheerios he tosses on the floor, he likes tofu. I have wasted thousands of dollars on food that was only shamefully wasted but Tofu is cheap and he eats it so I am thankful to have it in my fridge right now and forever!

10. Vacations. Bozeman, Bozeman, California, Bozeman, Jamaica, Bozeman. When you own a small business it is the few days that you can get away from it that help get you through the crazy times. Your insurance agency screwing you over, your employees quiting (or you just wanting them to) or when your VP (me!) is not the best at boring paperwork (should be doing it now....), beaches and sunshine are your lighthouse calling you to sanity. When you own a small business there is no desk or office you lock up and leave on Friday, it's a constant and there is nothing better to beating the stress then looking forward to getting the heck out of Dodge!

11. YOU! If you are reading this you are either doing me the honor of gracing my little blog-thing or know me well enough to make it to #11. There are those of you who I just can't get enough of and you know who you are! My friends, my family, my partners in crime and against it, I thank you for all the moments via phone, text, email, Facebook, in the gym or, if lucky enough, in each others living rooms. For all the times that you have listened to me, supported me or just made me smile, thank you. Numbers 1-10 are nothing without #11.

10/05/2011

The summer is over. For the next 6 or so months our vitamin D will have to come from a plastic bottle rather than the warm sky and our glass bottles will have to be toasted around a dining room table rather than your deck's weathered furniture set. The earlier and earlier sunset time may be bad news for your grill but it is very good news for your oven. I missed mine so!

My trip (via my kitchen) to Italy changed how I will cook for the rest of my life and my trip to Russia gave me an even greater appreciation of Russian people and their history (which was probably already greater than the average U.S. bear to begin with). For France I was whisk ready and fired up!

In very broad terms the items that I have in common with the general French population are:

Bread

Cheese

Wine

Is that last line still blank?....I really hope I fill it with some genius common bond between Erin and France for no reason other that the fact that I have a rule that you can't use bullets unless you have more than 3 things to list. I was actually considering putting smoking in there. I don't smoke and haven't even had a fraction of a puff in years because it's stupid and gross, but I just love the idea of slipping on a pair of skinny jeans (that fit), stepping into some incredible shoes (that maybe don't fit, but they're so awesome it doesn't matter) and spending an hour on my hair only to make it look like I just got out of bed to join a good friend at a funky sidewalk cafe for a glass of good wine and a cigarette. Add some bread and cheese to that little French scenario and you have a close second to summer! Again, smoking smells which is a distant reason #127 not to start the habit in the first place so it will not honor my bullet #4.

In my smoke-free, suburbia quest for French food I started at the basics. I made French Baguettes. These were very good, like better than you can buy anywhere else good. There is something that everyone should know, bread is very easy to make and no matter what, it will always taste better if you made it yourself! Cake is not that way, but bread is best from your own oven, your own fingers sticky with the remnants of dough, your house permeated with the smell of proofing carbohydrates from scratch. The crunchy baguettes exterior is achieved by occasionally spraying the burners in your oven with water. Who knew? It works and the outcome is incredible! Though I did not lunch on a sidewalk cafe and my skinny jeans probably didn't fit as well as they should, I dined daily on fresh French bread and brie and it was heavenly. Come to think about it my jeans may have fit a bit worse on Friday than they did on Monday, but who cares?!

Next was French Onion Soup. I admit that I don't even know if this is actually French food. It's not in Julia's cookbook and that is never a good sign, but it was like 56 degrees outside (in July I think) and I wanted soup. It was great and I made mini baguettes that fit the tops of the bowls perfectly. Scratch, soup, good! If it isn't truly French then they should really start the paperwork to adopt it. Kinda like we did fries!

My final meal was a true finally, Savory Crepes with Quiche Lorraine and for dessert Chocolate Souffles with Brown Sugar and Dark Rum Whipped Cream. First things first, crepes are awesome! I make them as often as I can, they are like pancakes but you can have 12 and still not feel full! You can roll them around anything, Nutella, honey, powered sugar, your vitamin D pill and you have a meal in your hand! There is one rule about crepes and it's true, you always throw out the first one you make. Every single time, the first one is a miss. Try it for yourself! But savory crepes can take on a new life from just flavor, they are a tasty way to seal other foods in like a crust-less crust, and that's what they did for my quiche. I made crepes and added parsley and tarragon, and lined them in prepared ramekins. Add some sauteed onions, bacon, cheese and eggs on top and after about half and hour you have France on a plate! They were super tasty and would be a great for any meal of the day but I used them for dinner as that is the only meal I can justify following with a souffle with sugar and rum whipped cream. This souffle was awesome! I kinda hate that I ate it on a Tuesday, it was a very Saturday night affair, but Tuesday should get a shout every now and then! Here is the recipe, make it, it's easy and impressive! http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/chocolate-souffles-brown-sugar-rum-whipped-cream.aspx.

The French aren't simple people and their food isn't simple food. I didn't go into this as I did Russia, taking on a their cuisine with the result of a whole new opinion of the country and what their people have gone through in history but I do have two new beliefs of French people through the few dishes I tried. One, that they truly believe that the egg came before the chicken. Just tonight, in my three little recipes, I used 16 eggs! That's like a small would-be farm! My other lesson learned is that the French do what they do and they do it very well and if you are going to do what they do you better do it how they do it or the results could be futile. With Italian or Russian you can put in your own little spin, alter an ingredient or technique here or change what kind of dish you serve it in and you will still end up with perfection. In Rome you don't really have to do what they Romans do, you will still have fall off the bone OssoBucco but while in Paris, stick to their plan! If you don't spray your oven with water you won't have a French Baguette. If you don't let your crepe batter rest they will be bubbly and if you leave a souffle in the oven for even a minute after the top cracks it will be dry. If you venture far from their recipes then you are, in essence, venturing from French food. When in France, just do what Julia says, she knows what she's talking about!

09/04/2011

It has been far too long since I have looked at this screen and actually typed something other than numbers into Quickbooks or kiss ass emails to random people I don't even know, but it's now the end of summer (frown face) and enough is enough, I am on a quest to type!

My lack of typing does not equal a lack of cooking, it's just a bit warm in this kitchen/multi billion dollar landscaping company headquarters and when the sun does grace us with it's presents it beckons me to the outdoors and away from my keyboard. I have actually earned a slight tan this year (unheard of!) and Charlie has just enough scrapes on his knees to prove that we've had some good times this summer.

With the sun in full force just feet away from my trusty Dell, Paul golfing and Charlie napping I have to type this quick so I can head out to my little pool and book as well as avoid breaking out in a head sweat while indoors.

Enough talk , let me get to my point! I have a new food love. It's a cross between a mojo sauce and a chimichurri that I have made up through many trials and zero tribulations. I am not sure what to call it but I have made it every week this summer and I'm hooked! Go ahead and give it a try for yourself and if you can think of a catchy name I am all ears!

The Sauce With Out A Name

In a food processor, combine all of the following:

1 Jalapeno (if you are wimpy keep the seeds out...but try hard to man up and use the whole thing!)

1 Bunch of cilantro

1 Bunch of parsley

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of 1/2 orange

1/4 White onion

4 Cloves of garlic (more or less depending on your love of Edward or the other wolf guy)

Some white vinegar (Depending on your love of vinegar. My coffee pot and I both dig it! If you are using this as a meat marinade then more is better, if not you can go less)

About 1/3 good olive oil (Depending on how saucy you want it to be)

Kosher Salt

Pepper

***So I have never typed up a recipe that I have made up before and I admit it's kind of hard. I always get annoyed when celebrity chefs say "Add about 1/3 palmful of cayenne pepper". What does that even mean? I mean, I am pretty sure that my 1/3 of palmful is gonna make some pretty bland chile compared to say my buddy Peyton's 1/3 palmful of cayenne (have you seen him grip a ball??). But now I totally see their point, it's tough. So you get the general idea of what I put in it. ***

After all of the ingredients are thoroughly mixed it should resemble a pesto. Taste it and season to taste with salt and pepper, then do what ever you want with it! This summer (and tonight even) I have loved marinating Carne Asade cut steak in it for a couple hours Throw the steak on a hot grill to get some char marks, thinly slice it and serve with tortillas, sliced avocados, queso fresco and more nameless sauce. Modelo anyone? YES PLEASE! Another fav use for my concoction has been lathering veggies up with it before grilling. Asparagus and corn on the cob are tried and true. Also, mashing up a couple avocados with it makes a nice twist on guacamole. I have pretty much added my sauce to everything from eggs to black bean soup to a plain old tortilla chip to a spoon to my finger. It's a keeper!!

OK....confession time. In the past I have given Rachel Ray a bit of a hard time. I have made fun of her random food abbreviations and scoffed at the fact that she's famous for over simplifying food. The 1/3 palmful thing? It's hers! But I am going to do something I never do, I am going to take back all of my harsh R.R. words and give her some credit. (it stings...it really does!) This next recipe is hers and it is literally to die for! It is not quick and it's not simple. In fact it is so many different complex layers of yummy (her word!) food goodness that I may have to send her a fruit basket or maybe a balloon bouquet in apology and thanks. In attempt to avoid my head sweat, rather than typing it out here is the link. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/braised-pork-tacos-recipe/index.html These pork tacos put all other tacos to shame! Follow the recipe to a T, but if you want a little extra spice add a bit more of the chipolte sauce. Most importantly, make the pickled red onions and serve them with crunchy red cabbage. Ugg, these are so good, don't put anything else on them. You are going to thank me, but really you should just......thank......Rachel Ray.

Last, but don't worry juicy bacon burgers, you will never be least! This next recipe is from my favorite recipe source, Fine Cooking (they will never use the term EVOO or palmful for that matter). I don't need to gush on too much for this recipe as the ingredients speak for themselves and the fact that the word bacon is used in the title twice is always a good sign! This is the best burger I've ever had and that's saying something! They are easy and delicious and will definitely blow away anyone that thinks they are coming over for your free beer and good company but will put up with dry grilled burgers on a soggy bun. http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/bacon-burgers-bacon-onion-balsamic-jam.aspx After they have these burgers they may actually feel bad for drinking all of your beer!

Though I have cooked other dishes (even dabbled in french cuisine) we have to take advantage of these lazy warm days of summer and these three recipes are great additions to your toes soaking in a kiddie pool and a beer with a lime in it! Cheers everyone!

07/16/2011

You know why I'm smarter than Napoleon? I went to Russia in June and left in July. I am also taller than him and focus more on good food rather than total world domination but to each his own. Of course if Napoleon had studied up on Russia's cuisine while mapping out his empire he might have thought twice about sending his army in to take over the tundra continent.

I must admit, like Mr. Bonapart I was a bit naive in my Russian invasion (food that is). I have written in the past about my fascination of this huge, complex country. Catherine the Great is my historical hero (and while we are on the subject of Catherines, the current duchess version of the name is my style hero!). In high school my band shirt had "Erin the Great" written on the back of it. (In a school of 100 kids, almost 15 years ago this wasn't as lame as it sounds now....) My incredible sympathy for Tvye and his daughters in their Jewish village creates an internal war with my incredible empathy for the fall of the Romanov's. But all of this Russian intrigue blinded me a bit from the reality of their food. Faberge eggs may be expensive and intricate but to be frank their food isn't.

Do you have a variety of root vegetables, ground meat, some dill and maybe a dollop of sour cream? Then you have a Russian feast. This doesn't mean that it's not good, because it is! This is hearty, homey and quite tasty but it's not what Napoleon and I were used to after spending so much time in Italy. Italy has sun, water, soil; the basic elements needed to grow juicy tomatoes, plump grapes and ripe olives. The average temperature in Russia is 22 degrees (thank you Google), the vegetables have no place to go but the ground. In addition to the poor climate was a poor class system. With slavery a no-no in Europe, serfs became a major percentage of the Russian population. When serfdom was out of style a new class of peasants was the new majority. Throw in a couple world wars and some Communism and I think that the fact the Russians are still kicking it is pretty freaking incredible!

So, less semi-factual history and onto the food. For my Russian meals I made Golubsti which are cabbage rolls filled with beef, rice, onion. The recipe I used (from the only actual Russian I know!) was better than the typical cabbage roll recipe becuase you first fried the rolls before you simmered them and the sauce you poured over was a thin reux of oil, tomato sauce and sour cream which was surprisingly very good. This was a keeper dish and though the separate ingredients were simple, the meal was a bit of a chore to make, those Russian women have skills and must keep their hands warm rolling cabbage! The next two meals I made were Goulash and Borsch. Both good, both filling, both could've saved Napoleon's forces from a frozen starvation. The last meal I made was Belyashi which are fried meat pies. Since I didn't have an awesome Russian mom's recipe to go off of for this I did some research. Most of the Belyashi recipes call for you to make a basic bread dough and fill it with meat and onion. I found one that was different from the masses and went for it. My Belyashi recipe was a dough made of flour, eggs, russian cheese and buttermilk (I substituted the far from domestic cheese and buttermilk for cottage cheese). This is a very different dough, no yeast, no rising and cheese thrown in. Whatever the Russian word for skeptic is, I was one. After way more flour than the recipe called for and a good Kitchen Aid workout (kisses!) I had THE perfect dough. There was no proof that there was cheese in it as it was mixed completely in, but there was an added richness that you wouldn't have gotten from your everyday bread dough. You take some of the bread, fill it with ground beef and onion and make a pocket with the top still open like a doughy, meaty purse of goodness. You fry the open side down which seals in the juices, sealing in the fact that they will be delish! These were bad in a very good way and the dough was key part which I had a lot leftover. In an attempt to pretend that I don't waste food (charles henry!) I decided to find a way to use the left over dough. The next morning I rolled little circles of it and filled it with cream cheese that I sweetened with fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. Fried up for a bit and sprinkled with powdered sugar and my first donut attempt was a success! I will call them my Sputnik donuts....

In the end, I am glad that I went to Russia but I realize that my desire to visit the country is not to sit in a sidewalk cafe and drink the best espresso ever or feast on fresh pasta and sip on fine wine, that is Italy. I want to go to Italy for the food and drink, I want to go to Russia because it's Russia and like Napoleon I will one day get there! Until then I have my cabbage rolls and Sputnik donuts. Next I am going to do what Napolean should've done, I'm going to kick it in France!

06/15/2011

I can't really explain my fascination with Russia other than the fact that the country is simply fascinating! What other country has foregone the typical boring titles of royalty to simple, yet accurate, adjectives? Peter the Great, Ivan IV the Terrible, Ivan III the Great, all much better than plain old King Peter if you ask me. I bet that even the new Duchess Catherine would much prefer Catherine the Classy.

In high school I never really read all of the assigned 90 odd paged Steinbeck books, but I did read a 600 page biography of Catherine the Great. I needed Cliffnotes to help me write my book report on The Great Gatsby but I couldn't put down my book on the fall of the Romanov's. Doctor Zhivago, Fiddler on the Roof, War and Peace..... these are all classic stories of a country's tumultuous past and I'm a fan.

That said, being interesting is not always the best thing for a country. I am sure that there are plenty of Russians who would prefer their pages in history to tell a story of tropical blue coastlines, a luke warm climate and a long lineage of democratic rulers, but that is not the case for Russia. Still how many other country's history books can you read of a Czarina so distraught over her only son's illness that she nearly gave up her sanity by entrusting a sorcerer like Rasputin to cure him. Mere months later that same royal family is taken to pose for a family portrait only to be shot hundreds of times, in their clothes sewn their treasured family jewels, blocking round upon round of bullets before their ultimate deaths. A dead royal family and a new ruling power of the largest country in the world. Fascinating!

I am no authority on Russia, I've never taken a class on it's heritage and even if I had my grade would've been average at best, but you have to admit that as a subject matter Russia is interesting stuff! I would love to see St. Petersberg myself, visit Catherine the Great's palace, see the Faberge eggs, maybe even have a perfectly made vodka drink. Instead I'll just eat and write about it.

Turning the focus to the food, I knew that Russia's cuisine would be very different from my most recently visited Italy. Italy has a great climate that allows the growth of nearly any kind of food you desire. Fish, fruit, animals, vegetables, grains; Italy has them all and many of them are nearly perfected through centuries of cultivating. Russia is not quit so lucky. They have a very harsh climate and a political past that has created many centuries of hunger, but their people are tough, often fending and fighting for themselves. I knew their food would reflect that, hearty and filling. Hey, I like hearty and filling!

The problem I was left with was that I had no idea what to make. I wanted my dishes to be real Russian and I was a bit stumped. Italy was easy, it's cuisine is very well known and their recipe books take up a good portion of my bookshelf. I knew the dishes I wanted to make for Italy, my only real job was to find the most extensive recipes for those dishes. Some came from my cookbooks, a few came from some Internet scavenging, pretty easy. But what did I know about Russia eating other than vodka and potatoes? (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Then I remembered a kid I knew from my gym that was Russian. Not like I am Irish, he is actually from Russia, has an accent, has the name Alex, a real Russian. In general guys at the gym are to be avoided, an odd place where odd people frequent, but he was the kind of nice that you would want your little sister to date. I don't have a little sister but I did need some Russian recipes and he was Russian. I told him that I was doing this little cooking thing and needed to make four Russian dishes and that if he could just tell me four of his favorites I would get the actual recipes on the internet and really appreciate it. He said he would get me the names and I think he was wondering what the heck I was talking about but just went back to his weights, smart kid! A couple of weeks later he brings me a folder, full of recipes that he translated from his Mom's recipes! Behind each recipe was pictures of the dishes so I could know what they looked like. What is "wow" in Russian?! If I had a little sister I totally would've given him her number. This has put a whole new spin on my trip to Russia and I am so excited! While Italy was authentic fancy, Russia will be authentic home and I can't think of a better way for Russia to be for me!

06/02/2011

Oh sweet Italy, I've never seen you but you smell terrrrific! What a great place to begin my culinary travel adventure. With a goal of four meals, I couldn't resist and made five main dishes and one dessert from the historic place that the pathetic Jersey Shore cast calls "homeland". All the dishes were excellent and I assure you they were way out of the "The Situations" league!

My first dishes were Arancini di Roso and Cannelloni with veal ragu. Though I have mentioned both of these meals before,they are not to be forgotten. The Arancini may be the new birthday meal in our house. (say it with me, fried risotto filled with veal ragu and cheese....moment of silence....until the next birthday) Most recently I have made Osso Buco, Ragu alla Bolognese con fettuccine, Lasagne al forno and strawberry gelato.

Though my version of a Venetian cobblestone alley-way was a gloomy Bothell/Everett Highway and my picturesque Tuscan wine country was really just a Saturday spent in Woodinville wine tasting, it doesn't mean that I didn't learn a thing or two about authentic Italian food fare. Like all journeys, far from home or next to your own living room, lessons are learned, I am glad to share them, as always!

First lesson, the sauces can take forever! This is a weekend commitment folks, not just another episode of Rachel R.'s 5 minute meals for under $1. I made only two meat sauces overall and both cook times together totalled a full day. How do you make meat melt on your tongue? Cook it in cream for 8 hours! In addition to the sauce times was the mass amount of ingreditents. The protein alone consisted of beef, veal, lamb, prosciutto and italian sausage. Did Italians not grow chickens or did I purposely avoid the boring poultry section of the book? These incredible sauces are layers of many ingredients that when added together form a very complex flavor. My Bolognese alone had 29 ingredients in it and when those individual items joined forces they created nothing short of excellence. ( http://www.finecooking.com/item/32821/spaghetti-bolognese-ragu-magnifico#comments) Though the bolognese and ragu were costly in both the time and the pocket book departments, they make plenty for more than one dish. My veal ragu (I heart you long time!) was the perfect amount to make both the Arancini and the Cannelloni and the Bolognese was delightful simply alone on fettucini (with fresh ricotta on top, a must!) and absolutely perfect in a Lasagna covered in rich Bechemel! Heaven! The lesson is that you put a lot of effort into the sauces but you get what you put into them. Both elaborate sauces had very delicate flavors, much different from my version of Italian. In Erin's old Italalian food loads of garlic, basil, oregano and red pepper were tossed into an over abundance of acidic tomato sauces. These dishes proved me wrong. Finally, defeat tasted sooo good!

Second lesson, homemade pasta is the best thing since sliced bread! (Though I think they were making pasta before they were slicing bread. Hmmm, may have to Google that one...) I am admitting that I have to get out my phone's thesaurus to find the appropriate words to describe fresh made pasta and they are: delectable, divine, exquisite, heavenly, luscious, mouthwatering, rich, savory, scrumptious, tasty and (finally and maybe the best word yet..) yummy! You could make it without a blue best friend (AKA, a Kitchen Aid mixer with handy pasta attachments) but it would be a chore and I hope you love your rolling pin. The pasta recipe told me to put a table cloth over my counter to lay the pasta sheets on and I was a fool in not doing so. Before I knew it I had multiple feet of thin, delicate dough every where! (Charlie's high chair actually came in as a handy kitchen accessory for once.) The hardest part, other than the time and space involved, is that you cook it for no more than 30 seconds then you have to (QUICK!) put it in a bath of cold water and then (QUICK!) lay it on the table cloth (the table cloth that was still in my linen closet). It's quite the slippery process, but worth it! Try it, or just come over to my house! I'll have the yards of pasta dough, you bring the table cloth!

Lastly is the very popular Gelato. I NEVER let myself eat ice cream before but once I got pregnant I was eating gelato every single night. (E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E N-I-G-H-T) It was my reward for.....whatever, but I loved it! It was like ice cream but more flavorful. I made strawberry gelato even though I don't love love love strawberry, but I am not pregnant and Paul likes strawberry so I figured he'd eat it. I made the gelato after I made vanilla ice cream with grass hopper cookies. This is a hard bill to follow! Did you know that ice cream has like 8 eggs in it, multiple cups of cream and half and half and mass amounts of sugar? Maybe that's why Ben and Jerry both have heart prescriptions! The grasshopper cookie ice cream was so good! The gelato recipe did not have any eggs, had a fourth of the cream and sugar but a lot of strawberries. It was good. It was no grasshopper cookie ice cream though. Maybe I'll try another recipe to give it the benefit of the doubt, I am pretty sure that The Spotted Cow has a better recipe than I had.

In Italian closing, it was great, magnifico! I honestly don't know if any other country I visit will be as good as Italy, which makes me a bit reluctant to move on. But here I am in Bothell, I just ate chicken and dumplings and drank a Red Hook beer, I am home and I am already ready to leave! In the horizon is a country I am so excited to see and taste. RUSSIA!!! Even better, my Russian recipes aren't from the generic Internet or even some expensive russian cookbook...they are homegrown! Just wait, I can't!

05/22/2011

I do not believe in regret. Human beings are delicate creatures set to walk this earth but only once and I find regret a huge waste of that precious time. I also try to un-subscribe to guilt but that's a bit of tall order at times. As I type this I am experiencing one of those guilty feeling moments.

Right now there is a baby cow in my oven. This poor animal didn't viciously attack me, warranting a kill in self defense. The little guy wasn't carrying some foriegn disease, plaguing the rest of the heard and killed to save the masses. Little Bessie's body wasn't ceremoniously sacrificed to please the gods in hope of a bountiful harvest for the clan. No, I wanted Osso Buco and now mini Ferdinand is dead, slowly cooking in my oven. Though I do not regret the rich smell that is now permiating my house I am not cold hearted, I do feel a bit guilty.

Like a lizard's camouflage, bee's stingers and dolphins sonar, baby animals are cute as a means to survival. Big eyes, soft fur, meek cries, without these cute baby things no one in the world would ever own a cat. Have you ever seen a baby giraffe? You should! In April one was born at the Cincinnati zoo and the videos of it awkwardly running around, tormenting it's poor mother (we shall name her Sophie, huh other mom's reading this?!) are so cute that it's almost unbearable. I would never eat at baby giraffe! (would I?) I would never marinate a baby elephant or kebab a baby horse. Then how is it that I can sautee Ferdinand to a golden brown, toss in some wine and throw him into the oven for 3 hours? I should feel horrible!

To be honest I really do shy away from baby cow...or as the food world has renamed, veal, to make it easier for people to literally swallow. At a restaurant I will force myself to order the chicken piccata over the veal though I don't ever crave poultry, beaks, feathers and talons are far less cute. I tell myself to refrain for the sake of humanity, for the sake of cow-manity. This new veal guilt has risen from me truly trying to branch out to other cultures' cuisenes with my "Around the World in 40 Meals" theme. I realized today, while trading a $20 bill for shanks of an infant animal, that Italians do not feel the same guilt as I do when it comes to young cattle. They kill, saute and eat Ferdinand all the time! But they do it very well and after a good glass of Italian wine you stop giving your meat a first name and you just start calling it veal. When in Rome!

You know what isn't cute? Baby broccoli, mini artichokes or even very young cheese. This is why people become vegetarians. I don't blame them! You can never pet a carrot at a zoo or turn to the Discovery channel to watch a mother spinach tend to her baby greens. There is no You-Tube video of a green pepper chasing it's tale or a mother potato leading her baby potato-lings down a road to swim in a pond. Go ahead, put ranch on your cauliflower and eat until you are full. You will have no guilt but you just may regret never tasting Osso Buco. But I have. :)

05/15/2011

The one thing my Italian journey has taught me so far is that this is one darn tasty country! Sure I haven't tossed a coin into the Trevi fountain, but the pond in our back yard is almost flooding. I haven't taken a tasting flight at a Tuscan winery, but my Woodhouse Cellars wine shipment did arrive. I haven't shopped the trendy streets of Milan, but I was able to use my 20% off Macy's coupon. I haven't witnessed a dreamy guy driving a Ferrari, but looking at Charlie in my Japanse made rearview mirror is pretty easy on the eyes. What I have experienced of Italy is their incredible food and it makes me happy to be here!

Spaghetti is a typical Wednesday night meal for us, Lasagna a nice Sunday dinner but I wanted to go a little out of the box with my Italian choices. Not typical American Italian dishes, typical Italian Italian dishes. My first stop was Arancini di Riso. After long hearing of these fried rice balls filled with savory goodness I was surprised to have a hard time finding a solid recipe for them. I have a 512 page cookbook that is simply titled, "Italian" and it had no mention of them at all and most of the recipes I found on the internet were for appetizers while I wanted mine to be the center of attention. I decided on Mario Batalli's version (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/arancine-with-ragu-recipe/index.html) and was blown away with the results! This is risotto that you cool off and form into a cup in your hand add fillings, form into a ball and fry. (Do I have you sold yet on these yet?) I did make a couple minor changes to Mario's Arancini version. I used my own risotto recipe for it (I can't imagine not adding white wine to risotto and I never add the saffron), I added a small amount of sharp provolone to the filling (the extra cheese oozing out is worth it!) and I traded basic bread crumbs for panko. I am the first to admit that I am not a good fryer so I was a bit nervous with these. I don't know how one of the most basic forms of cooking is my greatest challenge, but it is! When I pour a quart of oil into a pan I always make sure I know where the flour, baking powder and fire extinguisher are to keep the kitchen fire contained to at least in the kitchen. With my troubled frying history I have learned that basic bread crumbs brown very quickly so I opted for the lighter Panko and was happy I did. In the end, these were amazing! A-MAZ-ING. One of those meals when the people eating are just silent while they revel in what they have before them on their plate. The key to this recipe is the veal ragu, it's perfect! A friend of mine told me that I should take pictures of these and include them here and I wish I had. Instead you should just try them out for yourself!

Back the the veal ragu, this is the real meal deal! The Arancini had a lot of it leftover which inspired my second Italian destination, Cannelloni. (love sigh at just the word!) I didn't use a recipe for this as I knew exactly what I wanted, the Cannelloni they serve at Itallianisimo and I swear this veal ragu is the exact same recipe they use for their Cannelloni. With my filling already made, my adventure in Cannelloni land was one worded, PASTA! Enter the Kitchen Aide mixer, my new blue best friend! I had never made pasta from scratch before so I was sure for failure. I used the mixers recipe for basic pasta and failure is what I found! It had the consistency of an apple crumb topping. Not accepting defeat, I went to page 208 in my appropriatly titled "Italian" cookbook and they lead me in the right direction. 1 1/2 cups of flour and 3 eggs, easy enough. Mixed and rolled in my handy dandy blue best friend, the dough was perfect! Boil the noodle sheets for 30 seconds, dip in cold water, fill with the perfect ragu, a dash of Parmesan and loosely roll up! For the sauce I didn't want anything that would overshadow the fresh pasta and light veal so I just took a simple marinara and thinned it out with some of the pasta water and a touch of cream. I added just enough sauce to keep them moist, not saturate the Cannelloni. Covered up, thrown in the oven for a bit and out came the reason to save up money for that villa in Florence! Perfezione!

So far, so great! Back to my journey, not sure where it will take me but my GPS is pointing me into the town of Osso Buco. Ciao!

05/08/2011

As I am about to take off on my recession and gas price proofed version of around the world travel I first have a small confession or confessione (in italian).

The real reason that Italy is number one on my imaginary destination list is because I really wanted a Kitchen Aide stand mixer. There, I said it!

Most of my friends already have one of these colorful kitchen marvels resting on their countertop. Usually a wedding gift from some generous relative, I was 23 when I registered for my wedding list and an efficient way to mix bread dough was not one of my needs at that point in my life, margarita glasses and poker chips were though. When someone doesn't gift you one you are forced to realize that their price is somewhat on the daunting side. The mixer alone is a bit steep but it's all the "have to have" attachments that have made this desire of mine now cost more than my dishwasher and I have a nice dishwasher.

I haven't always cooked, therefore a mixer has not always been warranted. It has taken me a good decade to realize the true sense of accomplishment making an awesome meal has on me. Young, married and poor, I started with the basics, meatloaf, chili-mac, any casserole that included "cream of (fill in the blank)". Paul always happy to have a square meal on the table, I was my toughest critic. Once I started truly enjoying what I was eating I started truly enjoying making it. It soon dawned on me that maybe I could go beyond spaghetti. Failure was frequent but the kitchen is the one place where I learn from my mistakes with humility. I kept at it, always wanting to cook something better, more authentic, from scratch. I read the Joy of Cooking front cover to back. I own more aprons than I do pairs of jeans. I hate that all the summer food magazines are all about simple grilling and I would hate to know what I spend at the grocery store every month. Still, there was a cooking void in my life. I didn't have a mixer and with more and more of my recipes calling for the use of one, I knew I had to take action.

The challenge; a simple kitchen appliance (to the naive) that costs more than a new set of golf clubs, fly rod or even a flight to Bozeman. I met this challenge with patience and I slowly gained the intelligence needed to come out victorious. My computer was a necessity in this stealth operation. Macy's, Amazon, Overstock, even my American Express Rewards sites were all visited every day to price compare. I knew who had the cheapest pasta maker, who offered the color I wanted, who had free shipping. During this time of intelligence, an opportunity arose. It was a gamble, a 50/50 chance, but I decided to take it. Paul and I made a bet over the sex of one of our pregnant friends baby. Girl, he got new golf wedges. Boy, I would get a a mixer. Bold bet! If it was a girl I knew my mixer would be pushed back indefinitely, months of on line price shopping wasted. Turned out to be twins....both boys!!

Even with the bet won, I still had some work cut out for me. How many bets in marriages are ever paid up? Not many! I needed to seal the deal. When I thought of my blog idea to cook dishes from the places I would like to visit I knew that if I made Italy my first stop the homemade pasta and gelato would make this mixer mine! Follow it up with Mother's Day and.... Bam! My Blue Willow Kitchen Aid stand mixer with 3 piece pasta roller set, ice cream maker and food grinder are arriving tomorrow!

Now that that is off my chest, less confessing and more cooking! Tonight my Italian journey is taking me to an exciting dish of Arancini di Riso, next week, homemade pasta carbonara and hazelnute gelato! Taking a victory lap now with some Chianti. As they say here in beautiful Italy, salute!

04/30/2011

Though I have traveled a lot, I would not consider myself well traveled. My parents were great at making sure we saw a lot of the U.S. growing up, I've been to both sides of Mexico and Canada and when I am in Jamaica they welcome me back home, but that is far from being a worldly traveler.

The problem is that when I had the time to go explore Europe and trek through South America I didn't have the money. Now, with the money less of an issue, I don't have the time. And let me be brutally honest, aside from the occasional Star Trek movie, I am not a trekker. I appreciate the outdoors and the rare hike up Lava Lake, but I am not anyone that would spend all of my graduation money on a backpack to carry 3 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of khaki shorts and a pair of boots through the mountains of Italy. To be Erin means that 95% of my shoes are elevated, my face is rarely without makeup and my hotels are usually rated with enough stars to nearly fill one hand. Though that may cause an eye roll or two, I only speak the truth and I am not really high maintenance, I just like to shower. If you are not like me, I applaud you and your awesome adventures, I can't wait to see the pictures! But there is nothing wrong with me not being you and liking clean sheets and rental cars. I have worked very hard in my life and all of those patent leather shoes, fancy makeup brands and chic hotels are my idea of a good reward for mucho trabajo!

Still that leaves me here in suburbia, attempting to help run a thriving company while a crazy kid runs around with sharp objects. Worldly travel is unfortunetly not on my list of things to do tomorrow. So what is a girl to do? Watch Anthony Bourdain and Samantha Brown with only hope to avoid depression? Not this mascara-ed girl in pumps! I am going to bring a small part of all the countries I want to visit here to visit me!

Here's my plan: There are 10 countries that I would LOVE to go to. Every month I will pick one of these countries and make their ethnic dishes once a week. This won't be easy, my country list holds some cooking challenges, but here I am, at 32, and I would rather the challenge be in my kitchen than while I'm sleeping in some hostel, my pocket holding barely enough foreign currency to amount to much more than a loaf of bread.

On my list you may notice some very popular and I am sure very nice countries missing. For example, I have never wanted to go to Australia. I know they have epic snorkeling but for some horribly odd reason I get terrified of heights while snorkeling. I am not sure how this is possible when it isn't possible to fall down when you are floating but I do! I have tried to overcome this fear only to have a near heart attack in the middle of the Caribbean. England holds very little appeal to me. I love history but I really love the Russian royals, so I skipped over the long lived Queen of England and all her houses. I also skipped over anything in the Caribbean. I have been to Jamaica multiple times and will continue to go there, if it ain't broke don't fix it! So, here is my country list:

Italy- Wine and beauty together, but not being California? Sign me up! Not to mention the fast cars and attractive guys are both home grown! Winner

Russia- I have always wanted to go to Russia. Their country's history has gone through some of the most complex, drastic changes than any other in the world. Sign me up! Not to mention vodka and fancy jeweled eggs! Winner

Ireland- If I die before I go to Ireland then you can cry at my funeral. If not, then be happy that these irish eyes once smiled in Ireland.

Croatia- This place is drop dead gorgeous. If I were to ever get kicked in the head by a mule and changed personalities all together, I would backpack through Croatia.

Fiji- Who doesn't want to go to Fiji? To sleep in a glass bottom (4 star) room over crystal clear waters is heaven to my dreams.

France- South, not Paris. Picture Grace Kelly driving a Porsche directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Picture me pretending to be her when I'm in the south of France.

Vietnam- This is all Anthony Bourdain. He makes this place the Mecca for food loving people. I am that kind of people.

Austria- A grand excuse for chocolate and the Sound of Music. I would love to answer the question; do the hills really come alive?

Spain- In Spain I can imagine nothing being below par. Bread, meat, fish, wine....in Spain I think they must all taste just a little bit better than anywhere else in the world.

Czech Republic- They are like the beer capital of the word. Enough said!

Don't worry about your tray tables, they are fine just where they are. Wanna smoke? Go ahead (I gave up that battle a long time ago!), it's not against FAA regulations to smoke here. Heck, you can even fall asleep while I am cooking and you won't get fired and thrown on the front page of USA Today. No pat downs, lost luggage and your parents won't have to wire you any emergency money. Here, the seats are comfortable and the wine reasonably priced. I am ready for take off!